By IANS,
Chennai : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat Wednesday indicated a possible realignment of political forces in the country, even as he reiterated that the Left parties would not allow the the India-US nuclear deal to be operationalised.
There is going to be “a realignment of forces”, he said, while addressing a late night public meeting here, adding: “It is possible to form a non-BJP alternative to the Congress”.
Promising a Third Front as an alternative to the Congress and the BJP, Karat said: “We have some advice for the non-Congress friends in the (ruling) UPA (at the centre)…”The Congress is a sinking ship, you must get out of it as fast as you can.”
He vowed that the Left parties would continue their struggle against the India-US nuclear deal even if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government wins the July 22 trust vote in parliament. The trust vote was triggered by the communists withdrawing their support to the government over the nuclear deal.
“We will defeat their (government’s) attempts to operationalize the nuclear deal,” Karat asserted.
Accusing the Congress of not being able to contain communalism, Karat said: “We gave them (the Congress) support to keep communal forces out. But in election after after election, in Punjab, in Himachal Pradesh, in Uttaranchal and now in Karnataka the Congress has lost power. The Congress is unable to keep the communal forces out”.
The Left’s record “is very good” he pointed out, noting: “In West Bengal, in Kerala and Tripura, we have not let the BJP have even a single MLA or MP”.
“The Congress cannot keep communal forces out by aligning with the USA and imperialist forces”, Karat said, adding: “The BJP is the most imperialist force in the country”.
“People will punish the Congress for inflation, for the farmers’ distress and for making India a satellite of the USA,” Karat maintained.
“The Congress adopted a pro-poor Common Minimum Programme in 2004, when it was elected. Now, Manmohan Singh is adopting a pro-George Bush Common Minimum Programme”, he charged.
Communist Party of India leader D Raja, speaking from the same platform, said his party was “not opposed” to nuclear energy but “we oppose the 123 Act (that will make the nuclear deal operational),” he maintained.
“Is it worth paying this political and economic price for just about four percent from nuclear power in the energy basket by 2020?” Raja asked.